Collegian’s Early Case for Employee Rights Echoes Still

Allen Sack, member of UNH's sports management and business faculty comments on college athlete Fred Rensing's 1976 case involving injured worker benefits, still seen as a landmark case in the struggle to win employment rights for campus athletes which would potentially qualify them for protections like workers’ compensation benefits and unemployment insurance. Rensing's loss gave the NCAA an important legal victory, bolstering its stance that its athletes are not professionals and delivering a precedent that stood opposite to what Rensing had pushed for.